Time Crisis: Project Titan

Namco's light-gun game is dead on target. This romp of gun goodness can't be missed.

After a long hiatus from the PlayStation, Namco has skipped the polygon-heavy Time Crisis sequel, Time Crisis 2, and has created the PlayStation exclusive game Time Crisis Project Titan. That's a lot of crises to handle in one sentence, and I'm sorry, but it had to be done. The fact is, we haven't seen a light-gun game in here in quite a while and Namco has the gusto to deliver not only this excellent game, but the always fun Point Blank 3, too. And I admit, even though this game looks quite horrid and old, I have a certain sentimental spot for simple arcade games that are just plain and pure, and this definitely tugs on my gaming heart strings.

Both games use the much-sought after GunCon, a light-gun that's used instead of a controller, and that functions as an excellent tool with which to play the game. Time Crisis Project Titan is, in brief, an excellent game that, while rough in the graphics department, finds its ground in every other aspect, especially in the gameplay department. This game is so much fun! The classic reload/duck feature that the series introduced back in like 1995 is back and works perfectly.

A Little History Originating with Time Crisis in the arcades in 1995, Namco's Time Crisis took the light-gun arcade shooter to a new level of interactivity and sophistication. The first game made its way to the PlayStation in 1997, and it brought with it the GunCon and a relatively solid port straight from the arcade. We rated it a 8.0 and drooled over it's straight-forward arcade fun. The second Time Crisis was a much weightier affair in the arcades, linking to a second machine in which players could play co-op together, and being build on the polygon-hungry System 22 board.

The only unfortunate aspect to this setup was that the arcade machine's and the PlayStation's specs were so different that while a port might have been possible, the difficulty of performing such a task was probably more than the Japanese team had bargained for. And so, Time Crisis 2 never graced the PlayStation. But Namco knew that its fans wanted more Time Crisis, and that if Namco made a new game, players would buy it. I'm sure there is more to the story that I don't know, but for brevity's sake, Namco brainstormed Time Crisis Project Titan, an exclusive, PlayStation-dedicated game that never hit the arcades.

Gamplay The gameplay aspect of Time Crisis Project Titan is quite simple. This is a shooting game. You pick up the lightweight GunCon, aim it at the TV and shoot the bad guys. Boom. Simple. What makes this game tick is that despite the fact that it's not developed in-house, but rather by Flying Tiger Development, it feels and plays just like any of the time Crisis games. The action is quick and plentiful. The enemy patterns are varied and grow in difficulty as the game becomes progresses. And the GunCon, in conjunction with the duck-and load technique that Namco originated, still works like a dream. The game is designed to mimic a coin-op title, even though it's clearly designed for the PlayStation alone. It's weird, because it feels like a perfect port of a game that never existed in the arcades.

In Time Crisis Project Titan, players have the choice of playing through Story Mode, and by beating this mode, it opens up the different levels of the game for them to play it in Time Attack mode. By playing through in easy mode first, players have a better sense of how to handle the game in Normal, in which fewer credits are given to continue, and the enemies are just a little less nice. The game totals the shots you take, hit, and miss, and clocks the time you took to finish the level. There are essentially two ways to attack the game: one is by shooting like a sharp-shooter, aiming precisely and conserving bullets. The other way is to just shoot like a madman, doubling or even tripling up on the enemy, kind of like in the movies. At least you know that you hit them with the double shots.

Project Titan is a well-rounded game, and provides an excellent set of AI patterns that change through the course of the game. In the beginning, enemies pop out of close up areas, and they walk around a little bit slow. As you progress through the game, more enemies appear on screen at once, they bring out heavier weaponry, and they appear farther away from the screen. The locals provide sweet variety. Players find themselves in a ship, on a military base, in a courtyard, and in each spot, the obstacles and barriers convince they eye that the grounds are different. Also, the movement of the enemies, their speed, and their various placements on screen, create a wide sweeping path of movement on the player's part, which increases the level of fun. Some enemies come running across the screen, or summersault into position, or come straight up to your position and take a close up shot. Also, AI characters dressed in tan can be shot for extra time points, up to five points, if they're hit early.

The shooting isn't actually all that different from any other light-gun game, but feels especially true to the Time Crisis series, with the general storyline and the obvious set of not-so-believable characters. The two things that make this quite enjoyable, however, are the bosses, and the Multi-Hiding feature. The boss that I loved the most, not because of his difficulty level, but because of the audacious level of his caricature, is the French cook. He says silly things in a horribly bad French accent, and he throws butcher knives at you. And if you shoot the incoming knife dead-on, you get an extra +1 time point. Classic arcade stuff.

The other part of the game that's excellent is the Multi-Hiding Feature. Up against certain bosses, players see yellow triangles on either side of the screen. By shooting one side, your character runs from hiding spot to another. The enemy eventually tracks your positioning, but not so fast that you can't blow a few holes in his side first. This is an excellent feature for the game, and the only thing that could have made this aspect better is if there were more places to use it.

Two more things before wrapping up the gameplay: The level of interactivity is so much better than in the first Time Crisis. It's standard practice these days to feature this stuff, but the constant clanging of metal and breaking glass and shattering objects is just great here. Lastly, even though I spent about two to three hours on and off playing the game in two modes, beating it in easy and then in Normal, this is a short fricking game. I mean, the replay value of this game has always resided in achieving high points scores, but once you've beaten this thing in both modes, it's pretty much over. It's damn short (four to five hours max), and after having waited for so long to actually, finally play this PlayStation game, I expected a little more.

Graphics The graphics aren't much to speak of, I'm afraid. This doesn't in any way look like a fifth year PlayStation game, and up against top-notch games such as Final Fantasy VIII, Soul Reaver, Spyro the Dragon, and even Medal of Honor on PlayStation, this game just looks old, dated, and bad. The fact is, it is old and dated, but it should look better than a second year effort.

The perspective shifting and level of polygonal clipping is not a trim, clean effort, by any means. It's sloppy, in fact. I wouldn't buy this to show off its graphics to a friend, because it's embarrassing. Just about everything from the character models to the movement, and their rigid, sharp polygonal design is just outdated, even for PlayStation games. In short, it's probably not even as good looking as the the first Time Crisis.

Sound One of the best aspects of Project Titan is the sound. The loud sounds of gun shots from your various weapons is just so satisfying that it raises the game's overall effort to a new level. The sounds of bullets clanging off pipes and shields, of the bullet leaving the gun itself, and of men running around yelling about your whereabouts is just superb. The sound effects create an incredible sense of realism that is better than I had expected. The music is also perfecting fitting to the various scenes of chaos and gunfire.

The Verdict

Especially with the use of the GunCon, Time Crisis Project Titan is an excellent arcade shooter. It's just a whole lot of good fun. I kept coming back again and again to play through the levels with a tenacity that I forgot I had. Project Titan doesn't deliver in the graphics department at all, in fact, it's as ugly as a wart, but the gameplay is solid as a rock and it's a blast to play, over and over again.

Besides the graphics, my other big complaint is that it's just too short. I wish there were at least two to three more levels. I mean, I always argue the opposite way on this issue, because I really don't think games should always have to be 40 hours. But here, three hours to get through the game is quite short. I know it's the nature of the light-gun game, but perhaps Namco could have added branching paths or extra levels, or something more, because this thing just ends too quickly! I mean, after all, it really isn't an arcade convert, at all. Oh well, I guess I'll just to happily play it over and over again. Woe is me.